Only One Key

"Elliot, you can open the door to the house while I get the groceries from the trunk," said Mom. She pulled the keys from the ignition and held on to one as she handed them to him. "This is--"But Elliot grabbed the ring and scrambled out of the car in a flash. He ran to the door and eagerly shoved in a key. The lock wouldn't turn. He fumbled with the jangling keys and selected another one. It wouldn't even go in. Frustrated, he tried one more, then yelled, "Mom! Which one?"Mom gently took the key ring from him. "It's the one I was holding," she said. "I tried to tell you, but you bolted out of the car before I could finish." She held out a short silver key.Sheepishly, Elliot slid the key in and unlocked the door. He returned the key ring with a grin. "I guess there's only one key that will work."Mom smiled as she loaded his arms with groceries. "Yes, and that's true for more than one thing. Only one key for the house, one for the car--and even only one for heaven. And you know what? Many people--even adults--don't know what key is needed to get into heaven.""What do you mean?" asked Elliot as he followed his mother into the bright kitchen. Mom set the groceries on the table and began putting them away as she explained. "God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins so we could be saved and have eternal life. But instead of receiving that key to salvation, people often try their own imitations." She turned to Elliot and dangled the key ring in front of him. "Remember how you felt when you tried to use the wrong keys?""Yeah--locked out!" said Elliot."If the key we use to get to heaven isn't the right one, we'll be locked out of there too," said Mom. "We may go to church and try to be good and do what looks to us like the right thing, but doing those things won't open the door to salvation and eternal life. Jesus is the only key--the only way--to heaven. No other key will work." -Jean A. Burns